Joshua

Joshua is the name used by several different acts, including a Bulgarian drill artist, a K-pop member, and a number of bands in other genres. The artist most directly associated with the electronic hardcore scene in the input is Olivier Picard, who begins mixing in 1992 after hearing a techno programme on the radio. His sound develops from those early sets into hardcore, with a focus on morbid atmospheres, industrial sounds and dancefloor tracks that avoid overly linear structures.

Electronic hardcore work

Picard starts releasing music in September 1998 with early EPs on KS Records and Epiteth Records. Further releases follow on KS, Epiteth, Beast and Neurotoxic. In 2000, he creates his own label, Striking Wave, to issue new artists from the electronic scene. By 2002, he releases the mix CD Spleen. He also plays at parties and events in Strasbourg, Toulouse, Nancy and London, including Hardcore Paradise and D-Day.

Other acts called Joshua

One Joshua is a hard rock band founded by guitarist Joshua Perahia. This line-up includes musicians who later become known for their solo work, including Rob Rock and Ken Tamplin. Another Joshua is a New York indie rock trio made up of Keith Bogart on bass, Shane Chikeles on drums, and Dan Coutant on vocals and guitar; they issue a self-titled EP through Doghouse Records in 1997, follow it with two more EPs, add second guitarist Rob Suchan, and release their first full-length album, A Whole New Theory, in 1999. A separate Joshua is a rock/pop group from Aarhus, Denmark, with a sound compared in the input to Porcupine Tree, Queen, Anathema and Pearl Jam.

Further projects and releases

Another Joshua is the spacious acoustic strings and drone project of former Tower Recordings member Joshua Burkett. This project releases Gold Cosmos in 2001, with collaborations from Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance, Chris Corsano of Sunburned Hand of the Man, Dredd Foole, and former Tower Recordings members P.G. Six and Matt Valentine of MV + EE Medicine Show. Burkett also works with the Finnish group Kemialliset Ystävät on the 2004 Eclipse/Time-Lag compilation By The Fruits You Shall Know the Roots.

Street pop project

Yet another Joshua presents its music as “street pop”. That group is led by Brussels artist Greg Avau, who starts working with Joshua in 2001. In 2004, the MC and hip-hop singer Senso joins, and in 2005 the group releases L’Homme À La Tête De Chien, which is followed by Music & Chocolates, placed between electro and hip-hop styles in the input.

Unknown hard rock release

The name also appears on the hard boogie rock album Willie And The Hand Jive, by an unidentified group. The album is said to feature Dick Dodd of the Standells on vocals and Ed Cobb, also associated with the Standells and the Chocolate Watchband, as producer. Its track choices include covers of “Willie and the Hand Jive”, “Harlem Shuffle”, “I Just Want To Make Love To You” and “I Thank You”, and the recording is described in the input as a Californian project with a southern rock influence.